Despite common belief that giant retailers are bad for independent and small local retailers, a new study suggests that big retailers and small business actually help each other.
The study was conducted by Raffaekka Sadun, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, and looked into circumstances in British retail where big-box stores were closed or banned in certain communities, causing small businesses to suffer. This was credited to the giant retail chains opening smaller stores, similar to Canadian Tire’s “Express” stores, in downtown neighbourhoods where independent stores are usually located, instead of a big store located on the outskirts of town.
“In the areas with the big stores you see employment growth,” says Sadun. “You don’t see this killing effect on the small shops.”
